“This old bag of bones won’t go out for the fuss. The veggies and meat Little Bo bought a few days ago are enough for a while.”
“Staying home is great.”
Elder Wen said he had no interest in going out either.
“The money from woodworking the other day is enough for retirement. Alone in the neighborhood, it’s carefree.”
Sister Han, though:
“I was planning to take Doudou out for exercise.”
“But with weather changes, better not.”
What if they lost the dog?
The group chat quickly turned to chit-chat, the topic inevitably drifting.
“By the way, Little Bo, how’s it going with that offline meetup guy these days?”
Bo Ting hadn’t expected the weather talk to swing to him, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“It’s fine.”
“Mr. Xu seems like a good guy.”
The group livened up even more.
Fitness Zhang Bro spammed emojis, who knows what they meant.
Bo Ting studied them, deciding to private message Zhang Bro later.
But Miss Du from the flower shop couldn’t resist chiming in.
“If he’s a good guy, after this weather anomaly passes, why not invite him to visit our neighborhood.”
It’d be a chance to meet Little Bo’s date.
Miss Du pondered inwardly.
Bo Ting was surprised; he hadn’t expected everyone to be so curious about Mr. Xu.
It oddly felt like meeting the parents.
But meeting the parents with a bro was normal, right?
“I’ll ask Mr. Xu later.”
After sending the message, Bo Ting pondered another issue.
Hm.
He had just been focused on chatting, acting like he wasn’t paying attention to the sky at all.
The eyes probably hadn’t noticed, right?
So…
With a pounce, Bo Ting lunged forward like a nimble big cat, trying to catch an eye to examine.
But… wasn’t their intelligence a bit too high?
Bo Ting had barely paused when the eyes seemed to know what he was up to and scattered lightning-fast.
Bo Ting: …
Damn it.
His acting still wasn’t good enough.
With the eyes keeping far away, to avoid awkwardness, Bo Ting casually picked up Tang Yuan from the table, who was chasing her own tail, and evilly pinched her a couple times.
Tang Yuan was stunned for a moment.
She didn’t understand what was up with this human?
He had just been looking at his phone, so how did he suddenly get so rude?
But as she turned her head and saw Bo Ting’s slightly downcast peach-blossom eyes, Tang Yuan immediately pretended as if nothing had happened and continued staring at her own tail.
Bo Ting held the cat and glared hatefully at the air, deciding he wouldn’t look at her again for the rest of the day.
By afternoon, he prepared to go out and buy some milk tea.
The sun had set, and the temperature outside felt much more comfortable. Holding the calico, Bo Ting strolled leisurely out the door.
He noticed… huh?
Why hadn’t the security at their complex entrance increased?
From the photos posted online, almost every street had more personnel. So why did Wenhua District still look so deserted?
Bo Ting lingered at the entrance for a bit before heading toward the milk tea shop.
The shop still had the same few staff members, who were heads down doing something. They looked up when they heard him.
“Mr. Bo.”
“You’re out today?”
“Yeah.”
“Has our street not gotten any extra people?”
Bo Ting asked subconsciously.
Yan Qian froze for a moment. She followed his gaze and realized he was asking about the increased security.
Her face stiffened.
Damn it, she’d forgotten this guy could see the online posts too.
With Wenhua District so quiet now, he wouldn’t think they were being treated differently, would he?
She took a deep breath and tried to explain, “It should be rolling out gradually.”
“Every area’s situation is different. There’s not much security around my place either.”
Yan Qian’s family lived in Camphor District, so she subconsciously used it as an excuse.
Bo Ting nodded, then suddenly looked puzzled.
“Why don’t you seem curious about the extra security at all?”
Did this shop girl have insider info like him?
Yan Qian was caught off guard by his stare and realized she’d let something slip.
After her mind raced for a split second, she answered jokingly.
“Hey, hasn’t everyone been guessing about it?”
“We just discussed it in the shop.”
“But Mengjia City is like this—stuff happens every now and then.”
Ah, so that was it.
Bo Ting was almost impressed by the shop girl’s mindset.
Was this the mental fortitude of Mengjia City residents, used to all sorts of weird things?
Impressive indeed.
Yan Qian quickly changed the subject, worried she’d dig herself deeper if she kept going.
“What will it be for you today, Mr. Bo?”
“Uh, lemon water, I guess.”
It was a bit hot today; something cold sounded good.
After ordering, Bo Ting refreshed the latest topics in the forum posts.
Yan Qian carefully finished ringing him up and glanced at the Mengjia City residents’ forum logo. She couldn’t help but ask, “What do you think about this, Mr. Bo?”
The Resurgence Management Office’s stance on Taiping Luxury Garden was still to handle it cautiously, do their best to keep things stable, and make sure nothing else happened during the awakening of the Eyes of Virtual and Real.
Yan Qian couldn’t quite read Bo Ting’s thoughts as she glanced at him.
Bo Ting finished scrolling the latest posts. Seeing someone “measuring” something by the roadside, he looked thoughtful.
“Changes in the weather are normal.”
“I don’t really have any leads right now.”
He didn’t even know how those eyes got close.
How would he know about something this big?
Yan Qian blinked, then heard the resident of Taiping Luxury Garden add, “But actually, no need to get too tense about it.”
Their complex had crossed over after the solar eclipse, but they’d gotten through it just fine.
Bo Ting was pretty open-minded about it. He smiled and nodded, but the shark hood made his goodwill hard to read.
Yan Qian forced a stiff smile in return, her mind racing to process Bo Ting’s words.
She watched him leave only after the milk tea was ready.
“How’d it go?”
“What did It say?” Meng Xiaokun came out and asked softly.
Yan Qian sighed. “It said changes in the weather are normal.”
Meng Xiaokun: …
He choked, at a loss for words for a moment.
Changes in the weather are normal?
What was normal about eyes filling the sky!
Weird thinking really was different from humans’. No point expecting any intel from Taiping Luxury Garden.
…
Bo Ting had plans to meet Mr. Xu for dinner that afternoon. After getting his milk tea, he took the bus toward downtown.
Coincidentally… cough, he ended up on Master Li’s bus again—the same one from the city loop last time.
After stopping at the Yunhe Convenience Store station, Master Li saw a young guy in a shark plush hood board and froze.
Wait, him again?
Last time’s loop issue had nearly given him PTSD from the heat. Master Li had specially requested a route change to inner-city buses.
But the moment he turned, he spotted the unexpected passenger.
Master Li: …
“Cough, what a coincidence.”
Bo Ting: “Ha, yeah, pretty coincidental.”
Damn, him again?
They exchanged a glance, the perpetrator facing the victim and feeling extremely guilty.
Bo Ting propped his head up to hide any odd expression and nodded. “New bus, Master?”
“Looks cool.”
Master Li: …
What was cool about a bus?
This guy was the cool one, right?
After staring at the shark hood for a bit, Master Li couldn’t help but say, “Go sit in the back quick. We’re about to go.”
Worried Bo Ting might say something he shouldn’t, Master Li cut the chat short.
The other passengers boarded one by one. Bo Ting nodded and went to sit in the back.
The cute shark hood was super eye-catching; everyone who swiped their card glanced at it.
Bo Ting stared straight ahead, looking very aloof.
Once the bus started moving, he instinctively turned to look out the window.
And saw… huh?
Those eyes right in front of the window?
He took a deep breath, trying not to act weird, and leaned his head closer.
The passenger next to him just saw the shark-hooded young guy gazing thoughtfully at the street scene outside, oblivious to what Bo Ting was actually looking at.
As Bo Ting leaned in closer.
First, he saw the plush hood reflected in the transparent eye.
Correct.
Then, he saw… a pair of human eyes.
Human eyes appeared behind the plush hood, like x-ray vision revealing the face inside.
A young man’s face, fresh out of college maybe, appeared in his view.
Bo Ting held his breath.
He hadn’t been wrong last time?
This eye was showing him himself!
But how was that possible?
Wasn’t he an air conditioner?
Bo Ting was dumbfounded.
Was there something wrong with this eye, or with him?
Bo Ting stared blankly. The eye across from him, now under his gaze—maybe realizing he’d spotted it watching through it—simply froze in place.
Bo Ting held his head and, when the person next to him wasn’t looking, quietly lifted the edge of the hood.
In the transparent eye: a human neck came into view.
Bo Ting snapped the hood shut.
Startling the auntie behind him who was holding groceries.
Damn!
Bo Ting panicked hard inside.
This was the first time something like this had happened.
In what scenario would… he see himself as an air conditioner, but others see him as normal?
Only one answer—he was crazy!
Bo Ting never imagined that just going out for dinner with Mr. Xu would lead to discovering this secret out of nowhere.
He was thrown into panic.
What now?
Was being an air conditioner worse, or being insane?
Worse still, Bo Ting suddenly remembered.
If he wasn’t an air conditioner, then all this time in front of Mr. Xu… hadn’t he just been performing avant-garde art?
